NPR
_Robert Krulwich On Science_ (http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/)
A Crazy But Rational Solution To Our Electoral College Problem
by _Robert Krulwich_ (http://www.npr.org/people/5194672/robert-krulwich)
February 15, 2013 9:53 AM
Let's pretend. Let's pretend that politics doesn't matter, politicians
don't matter, history doesn't matter, nostalgia doesn't matter, emotion
doesn't
matter, habit doesn't matter, romance doesn't matter, prejudice doesn't
matter — all that matters is good old rational, mathematical,
look-at-the-numbers common sense.
And now let's look at the Electoral College.
We know what its problems are. _Simply stated_
(http://fakeisthenewreal.org/reform/) , by mathematician and fellow Obie
(Oberlin College, producer of
odd ducks) Neil Freeman, some states have lots of electoral power. Some
states hardly any.
The largest state is 66 times as populous as the smallest and has 18 times
as many electoral votes. This allows for Electoral College results that
don't match the popular vote.
Neil's solution? Instead of eliminating the Electoral College he wants to
reform it, with a simple formula: Recut the American pie. Redivide America
into 50 new units of equal population. Each new state will have roughly
6,175,000 inhabitants — which is our 2010 population divided by 50. Because he
is also an artist, an urban planner and a nut, he has renamed his new
units after plants, songs, cities and geological features in ways guaranteed to
irritate pretty much everybody. Here's his modest proposal ...
On his blog _Fake Is The New Real_ (http://fakeisthenewreal.org/) , he
lists the "advantages" of his proposal:
Advantages
* Preserves the historic structure and function of the Electoral
College.
* Ends the over-representation of small states and
under-representation of large states in presidential voting and in the US
Senate by
eliminating small and large states.
* Political boundaries more closely follow economic patterns, since
many states are more centered on one or two metro areas.
* Ends varying representation in the House. Currently, the population
of House districts ranges from 528,000 to 924,000. After this reform,
every House seat would represent districts of the same size. (Since the
current
size of the House isn't divisible by 50, the numbers of seats should be
increased to 450 or 500.)
States could be redistricted after each census — just like House seats are
distributed now.
... and then, because he has to, he very briefly lists the disadvantages,
to which I have added one of my own ...
Disadvantages
* Some county names are duplicated in new states.
* Some local governments would experience a shift in state laws and
procedures.
* [Editor's Addition] This will never happen.
____________________________________
In fairness to Neil, he explicitly says: "Keep in mind that this is an art
project, not a _serious proposal_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact') , so
take it easy with the emails about the
sacred soil of Texas." So don't rant to him. Save your rants for me. I am
built like an Internet armadillo; I am rant-friendly. Neil, by the way, has
been published in the Believer, Black Book and the Next American City, and
his work has appeared in exhibitions in Chicago, London, New York and
Cambridge, Mass. (Or "Casco," as he would call it.)
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